Two men were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly spreading misinformation on social media regarding the desecration of an idol inside a Kali Puja pandal near Lake Town on Diwali, police said.

A senior officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate said a video, made by the two arrested men, wascirculating on the internet, claiming that a Kali Puja pandal was “attacked” in Dakshindari and the idol was “damaged”.

“The video had a presenter (one of the arrested) and voice in the background that claimed that the idol inside a Kali Puja pandal was broken by a mob. It further claimed that the incident took place on the Diwali night and the broken idol was replaced with a new one within a very short time,” the officer said.

Another senior officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate said the video was being circulated with deliberate and malicious intent to spread misinformation and distort facts to createconfusion and chaos in thelocality.

The video further stated that a large police contingent had to be deployed to bring the situation under control. It had claimed that the mob had ransacked the pandal as they had been bothered by loud music being played there during certain periods of the day, the officer added.

Badana Varun Chandrasekhar, joint commissioner, headquarters, Bidhannagar commissionerate, told Metro that Lake Town police station started a suo motu case after the video surfaced.

“The video was made with a mischievous and malafide intent to cause trouble and chaos in the neighbourhood,” he said.

Both the men were produced in a court in Salt Lake and were granted bail.